Petit Hotel Zontakku

Nearly eight years ago, I spent three days at a swimming training camp here. It was awesome.

The lodge has a nostalgic atmosphere, and I’ve stayed here many times for my children’s rugby camps. It’s a big facility with a rugby practice field, gym, pool, and sports hall. Breakfast and dinner are served in the open dining room, and the food is delicious.

I stayed here for a club training camp. Students weren’t allowed to borrow towels, among other restrictions, so I don’t think I’ll come back.

We stayed two nights, and nobody told us the room wouldn’t be cleaned or that our towels wouldn’t be changed. There was also a box of Christmas tree ornaments left on the floor outside our door throughout the stay. It looked like someone had dropped it, and it gave the impression that no one was keeping track of things. The drink machine by the front desk said to help yourself. I pressed iced coffee and got a hot drink. The instructions said to use ice, but there was none around. What came out was cloudy water with hardly any coffee taste or bitterness. My wife tried the cocoa the next day after being disappointed the first time, and got cloudy water again. Is that how things run over the three-day New Year holiday? It didn’t seem like staff were overwhelmed or short-handed. Dinner was another mess. At check-in over New Year’s, we were told the buffet started at 6 PM, and when I asked when it ended, they said there was no set end time. So I went at 7 PM, ordered a 900 yen bottle of beer, and found only four or five dishes on the main buffet platter. The choice was so limited I just took what was there. After ordering a second beer, the side dishes I’d chosen were gone, so I went back at 7:30 thinking I’d get the same things again. A waiter hurried over with an annoyed look and told me to stop, apologizing as he did. I was confused because I’d been told there was no end time. I was mostly drinking and having snacks, not eating a lot. Other guests seemed to be chatting after their meals, and it felt like they wanted to clear the place quickly. I don’t especially like carbs, but the only option was things like plain peperoncino, so I was reluctantly eating that. I was so irritated at the start of the New Year that I complained out loud while eating. It seemed we hadn’t had sweets, so they brought out the usual tiny, dice-sized ones and said it was the last serving. I didn’t need sweets while drinking beer. And if they were out, they weren’t replenishing the buffet. I hadn’t expected much from the food, but it was awful. We also had no idea when we booked that the room wouldn’t be serviced.